1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to aircraft safety improvements, and more particularly, the invention relates to an aircraft with a plurality of passenger modules which may be extracted from the aircraft in an emergency and safely return passengers and crew to earth.
2. Description of Related Art
Since the advent of flight, individuals have struggled to develop technology to prevent fatalities encountered in air travel. Such fatalities frequently occur when control of an aircraft is lost due to mechanical failure or pilot error, sending the aircraft careening to earth and killing most, if not all, passengers and crew aboard. These casualties can be avoided if a device capable of extracting the individuals from a crashing airborne aircraft was to be developed.
Aircraft with passenger extraction means are known in the related art. U.S. Pat. No. 2,684,219 which issued to M..O slashed.. Thunbo on Jul. 20, 1954 discloses an aircraft with a detachable cabin. The cabin is housed within the fuselage and is equipped with a parachute to enable the safe landing of the cabin. The fuselage has guide wheels to allow the cabin to slide away from the fuselage and out of danger. To operate this device, the pilot must enter the cabin, seal the door shut, and release the cabin, a time-consuming process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,699,336 which issued to P. Diamond on Oct. 13, 1987 discloses an airplane safety body passenger compartment containing a mechanism for ejecting the passenger compartment from the fuselage when the aircraft is in danger of crashing. Parachutes then float the passenger compartment to earth.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,110,071 which issued to Hunter et al. on May 5, 1992, discloses a personnel capsule extraction apparatus comprising a personnel capsule mounted on an extraction platform which is ejected from a low-flying aircraft. This invention cannot be used at high altitudes, where many airborne emergencies arise.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,097 which issued to S. Chalupa on Oct. 18, 1994, discloses a segmented safety aircraft comprising a plurality of segmented passenger cabins and a fuselage base support. In the event of an airborne emergency, a rocket causes the segment nearest the tail section to discharge, each subsequent segment is connected to the tail segment by connecting cables so that the tail segment then pulls the remaining segments away from the fuselage base support. Parachutes then safely bring the segments to earth, and airbags on the underside of the cabins cushion the landing of the cabins and provide for their floatation.
Similarly, French Patent No. 1,051,874 which issued to I. Zafra and was published on Jan. 19, 1954, discloses an aircraft having a detachable passenger cabin. Upon the detachment of the cabin, a parachute deploys to safely bring the cabin to earth. Additionally, French Patent No. 1,388,345 which issued to D. Laiber and was applied for on Mar. 14, 1964, discloses an aircraft having a plurality of detachable compartments that are deployable in the event of an emergency.
British Patent No. 580,446 which was issued to S. Mazurek and was applied for on Jun. 21, 1944, and British Patent No. 1,086,697 which issued to A. P. Pedrick and was published on Oct. 11, 1967, both disclose an aircraft with detachable cabins that separate in the event of an airborne emergency, and slowly descend to earth with a parachute.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.